I’ve been thinking… A lot. About the world and the state it’s in. Asking myself – How do we make change?
Our systems and structures are so flawed (and all built atop one another – broken system upon broken system, an unstable foundation that can feel beyond repair). Our conditioning. Our practices. Cultural norms we’ve arrived at over time and evolution. The water we’re swimming in, really. But the water is getting more and more polluted, and we need to shift the tide. Ultimately, we need a sea change.
It feels so big and tangled and impossible…
But I work with big and tangled and impossible. And one way we do it is by stepping into it. One foot in front of the other. One step at a time. Focusing on where we have agency. Where we can band our agency together. It is important not to get swallowed up by the bigness. Not to give up before we start. To know that if we just do the next right thing, we can make sustainable, meaningful progress.
I’ve been asking – What changes can I make? What changes can I influence or inspire? What changes can we drive together? However imperfectly and insufficiently. Trusting that progress can beget progress. And refusing to let perfection be the enemy of the good.
Sometimes, we don’t fully see it until we see it. And, once we see it, we can’t unsee it. And, still, we can hold space for the fact that we probably have more seeing ahead. As we pull back the layers and layers of curtains. Walls. (I think this is a forever process.)
Once we see it, and we can’t unsee it, though…we have a choice. How do we want to meet it? What do we want to do now that we see?
For me, how this is showing up now is setting intentions and taking action to:
- Invest time and resources to clarify my values and my purpose and live as best I can in alignment with them.
- Craft my work and creative and giveback pursuits as best I can to support and further those values and that purpose.
- Be more thoughtful and intentional about my consumption. Of everything.
- Make space for deep thinking and intentionality in furtherance of the foregoing.
- Commit to being brave (and building my bravery muscle) in service of the foregoing.
I am sharing this vulnerably and imperfectly. Trying to figure out how to live in the balance of it all. Sitting, stunned and heartbroken, watching yet another horrible tragedy play out on an unimaginable scale. Wanting to do something. Not just for the incomprehensible number of people affected by this latest atrocity. But to drive positive change in a world that at times (like these) feels so resistant to it.
And, knowing it’s not enough…
But, maybe it’s something. And, maybe I’m not alone. And, maybe together, the somethings add up. (After all, big change is often accomplished by a series of manageable, consistent actions.)
Once we can’t unsee it, what are we going to do?